Rarely does the centuries-old Bhagavata Mela Natakam travel outside Melattur, a quiet village near Thanjavur. It came to Kerala on Saturday night, and the large audience at the Jubilee Memorial Hall loved it.
The Bhagavata Mela Natakam performances are presented every summer at Melattur’s Varadaraja Perumal Temple. The tradition of the Bhagavata Mela goes back to the 16th century when a large group of Telugu Brahmin families settled down at Melattur, from Vijayanagar.
Several dance dramas – which often go into the early hours of the morning – are staged at Melattur by a group of dedicated performers, some of them professional Bharatanatyam dancers, the others professionals like engineers.
